Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years.

WHAT IS LUPUS?

In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs. Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues (“auto” means “self”) and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.

Lupus is also a disease of flares (the symptoms worsen and you feel ill) and remissions (the symptoms improve and you feel better).

More facts about lupus:

Lupus is not contagious, not even through sexual contact. You cannot “catch” lupus from someone or “give” lupus to someone.

Lupus is not like or related to cancer. Cancer is a condition of malignant, abnormal tissues that grow rapidly and spread into surrounding tissues. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, as described above. However, some treatments for lupus may include immunosuppressant drugs that are also used in chemotherapy.

Lupus is not like or related to HIV (Human Immune Deficiency Virus) or AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In HIV or AIDS the immune system is underactive; in lupus, the immune system is overactive.

Lupus can range from mild to life-threatening and should always be treated by a doctor. With good medical care, most people with lupus can lead a full life.

Research by the Lupus Foundation of America estimates that at least 1.5 million Americans have lupus. The actual number may be higher; however, there are no large-scale studies to show the actual number of people in the U.S. living with lupus.

More than 16,000 new cases of lupus are reported annually across the country.

It is believed that 5 million people throughout the world have a form of lupus.

Lupus strikes mostly women of childbearing age (15-44). However, men, children and teenagers develop lupus, too. Most people with lupus develop the disease between the ages of 15-44.

Women of color are two to three times more likely to develop lupus than Caucasians.

People of all races and ethnic groups can develop lupus.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF LUPUS

Because lupus can affect so many different organs, a wide range of symptoms can occur. These symptoms may come and go, and different symptoms may appear at different times during the course of the disease. The most common symptoms of lupus, which are the same for females and males, are:

Many of these symptoms occur in other illnesses. In fact, lupus is sometimes called “the great imitator” because its symptoms are often like the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, blood disorders, fibromyalgia, diabetes, thyroid problems, Lyme disease, and a number of heart, lung, muscle, and bone diseases.

WHAT CAUSES LUPUS?

Many (but not all) scientists believe that lupus develops in response to a combination of factors both inside and outside the body, including hormones, genetics, and environment.

Hormones

Hormones are the body’s messengers. They regulate many of the body’s functions. Because nine of every 10 occurrences of lupus are in females, researchers have looked at the relationship between estrogen and lupus. While men and women both produce estrogen, its production is much greater in females. Many women have more lupus symptoms before menstrual periods and/or during pregnancy when estrogen production is high. This may indicate that estrogen somehow regulates the severity of lupus. However, no causal effect has been proven between estrogen, or any other hormone, and lupus. And, studies of women with lupus taking estrogen in either birth control pills or as postmenopausal therapy have shown no increase in disease activity.

Genetics

No gene or group of genes has been proven to cause lupus. Lupus does, however, appear in certain families, and certain genes have been identified as contributing to the development of lupus, but these associations alone are not enough to cause the disease. This is especially evident with twins who are raised in the same environment and have the same inherited features yet only one develops lupus. Although, when one of two identical twins has lupus, there is an increased chance that the other twin will also develop the disease (25 percent chance for identical twins; 2-3 percent chance for fraternal twins). Lupus can develop in people with no family history of lupus, but there are likely to be other autoimmune diseases in some family members.

Certain ethnic groups (people of African, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Island descent) have a greater risk of developing lupus, which may be related to genes they have in common.

Environment

Most researchers today think that an environmental agent, such as a virus or possibly a chemical, randomly encountered by a genetically susceptible individual, acts to trigger the disease. Researchers have not identified a specific environmental agent as yet but the hypothesis remains likely. While the environmental elements that can trigger lupus and cause flares aren’t fully known, the most commonly cited are ultraviolet light (UVB in particular); infections (including the effects of the Epstein-Barr virus), and exposure to silica dust in agricultural or industrial settings.

Other examples of known environmental triggers include:

Ultraviolet rays from the sun

Ultraviolet rays from fluorescent light bulbs

Sulfa drugs, which make a person more sensitive to the sun, such as: Bactrim® and Septra® (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole); sulfisoxazole (Gantrisin®); tolbutamide (Orinase®); sulfasalazine (Azulfidine®); diuretics

Emotional stress, such as divorce, illness, death in the family, or other life complications

Anything else that causes stress to the body such as surgery, physical harm, pregnancy, or giving birth

Seemingly unrelated factors can also trigger the onset of lupus in a susceptible person. Scientists have noted some common features, including: exposure to the sun, infection, pregnancy, childbirth, or drugs taken to treat an illness.

If you are diagnosed with lupus, you play an important role in helping your doctor manage your disease. Listen to your body, ask questions and stay involved.l Courtesy of Lupus Foundation of America